The Gunners have only brought in two new faces this summer, Sead Kolasinac on a free transfer from Schalke and £50 million man Alexandre Lacazette from Lyon.

But they risk losing a number of players before the window slams shut, with Kieran Gibbs closing in on a move to Watford, Shkodran Mustafi up for sale, Lucas Perez set to depart and Liverpool and Chelsea battling for Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.

Oxlade-Chamberlain, Mustafi, Perez and Gibbs could all leave in the coming days (Picture: Getty)

And now The Telegraph report that Arsenal feel their top two targets – centre-back Virgil van Dijk and winger Thomas Lemar – will not become available in the next week.

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Instead, they believe it would be better to wait until January, or even next summer if necessary, when the deals become more feasible.

Arsenal have been chasing Lemar all summer but Monaco do not want to sell (Picture: Getty)

In the current transfer market, Wenger is also unprepared to commit to spending big money to land anything other than his top targets, and does not want to settle for lesser quality alternatives.

Even if Mustafi departs – Inter have been linked with a £34m deal – Arsenal will not enter the market to try and find a replacement immediately.

Wenger wants his first-choice targets and will wait until January, or longer, to get them (Getty)

They have long-standing interest in Van Dijk, but feel they have enough cover in the position – courtesy of Laurent Koscielny, Per Mertesacker, Rob Holding and Calum Chambers, as well as Nacho Monreal and Kolasinac.